Gaps present in joints are an issue that affects manual and automated welding processes. With manual welding, a welder can change the weld parameters intuitively, resulting in a good weld. Automated welding does not have the flexibility of manual welding. To achieve good welds in automated welding adaptive control, that is oftentimes difficult and cumbersome to implement, is used. The methods currently employed in automated welding include cumbersome programs and cameras to allow adaptive control to try and address the joint gap issue.
Larger gaps of more than 1.5 millimeters are difficult to bridge using automated high-power density laser (or electron) beam welding. Using adaptive control to slow down the welding speeds and increase the filler metal delivery rates does not provide adequate gap bridging. Trying to use conventional welding techniques to fill larger gaps results in unstable weld pools, which can result in blow through holes, lack of penetration, or lack of fusion between the components that are joined.
A limited solution used to bridge a gap is to use a shim to physically fill the gap prior to welding and use a focused laser beam or electron beam to melt the shim. Generally, this focused laser beam/electron beam (EB) with shim method only bridges small gaps of less than 1 millimeter.
Generally, for a joint having variable gaps it is hard to guarantee the weld quality of the resulting weld using traditional welding processes. Although it is recognized that electric arc welders with consumable electrodes, for example a gas metal arc welder (GMAW), can make required material deposition, the GMAW cannot go deep into the material because of its lower power density. So although a GMAW can bridge a larger gap, the problem is a lack of weld penetration and a likelihood of lack of fusion happening in the joint.
Therefore, a hybrid welding apparatus, a hybrid welding system and a method of welding that do not suffer from the above drawbacks are desirable in the art.